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Bookkeeper admits to $15,000 theft from Houma business

Published: Friday, April 5, 2013 at 10:26 p.m.

Last Modified: Friday, April 5, 2013 at 10:26 p.m.

A business' former bookkeeper is serving four years of probation after she admitted to stealing $15,000 from it.

Tammy Leonard, 44, of Houma, pleaded guilty to stealing from Houma Bearing Services, according to the Terrebonne Parish chief of trials and the victims. Judge George Larke sentenced her to 10 years in prison but suspended that sentence on the condition that she not violate her probation over four years. If she does, she will go to prison.

Leonard pleaded to theft over $1,500, Chief of Trials Mark Rhodes said. She must pay $15,000 in restitution.

“That's the amount they could prove concretely, but there's a certain possibility there was more,” Rhodes said.

Houma Bearing Services lost $200,000 the last year Leonard worked for them, said owner Bob Lichenstein. Leonard, who worked for them for eight years, wrote checks to herself and altered the books to cover up the missing money, he said.

Leonard's thefts did not shut down the 26-year-old business, but it almost did, he said.

“We almost lost our company. She had all our employees turn against us. Some vendors we were not able to get back. But we're still open,” said Lichenstein, 72. They had to downsize from nine employees to six.

Lichenstein said he and his wife, who own the company together, are satisfied with Leonard's sentence.

“We feel like if you pay somebody well, give them health insurance and benefits, they won't steal from you,” he said. “But she did. ... I was too naive to think that anything was going on like this.”

In 2003, Leonard was cleared of felony theft charges brought against her after she was accused of embezzling more than $50,000 from her then-boss, orthodontist Catherine Schwab. Authorities said Leonard took payments from patients but failed to deposit the money into the doctor's account.

District Judge Johnny Walker dismissed the charges at the time, citing lack of evidence. The decision was based on the fact that prosecutors were using printed financial records to prove their claims that money was missing but were unable to produce the computer files from which the documents originated.

Staff Writer Katie Urbaszewski can be reached at 448-7617 or katie.urbaszewski@dailycomet.com.

<p>A business' former bookkeeper is serving four years of probation after she admitted to stealing $15,000 from it.</p><p>Tammy Leonard, 44, of Houma, pleaded guilty to stealing from Houma Bearing Services, according to the Terrebonne Parish chief of trials and the victims. Judge George Larke sentenced her to 10 years in prison but suspended that sentence on the condition that she not violate her probation over four years. If she does, she will go to prison.</p><p>Leonard pleaded to theft over $1,500, Chief of Trials Mark Rhodes said. She must pay $15,000 in restitution.</p><p>“That's the amount they could prove concretely, but there's a certain possibility there was more,” Rhodes said.</p><p>Houma Bearing Services lost $200,000 the last year Leonard worked for them, said owner Bob Lichenstein. Leonard, who worked for them for eight years, wrote checks to herself and altered the books to cover up the missing money, he said.</p><p>Leonard's thefts did not shut down the 26-year-old business, but it almost did, he said.</p><p>“We almost lost our company. She had all our employees turn against us. Some vendors we were not able to get back. But we're still open,” said Lichenstein, 72. They had to downsize from nine employees to six.</p><p>Lichenstein said he and his wife, who own the company together, are satisfied with Leonard's sentence.</p><p>“We feel like if you pay somebody well, give them health insurance and benefits, they won't steal from you,” he said. “But she did. ... I was too naive to think that anything was going on like this.”</p><p>In 2003, Leonard was cleared of felony theft charges brought against her after she was accused of embezzling more than $50,000 from her then-boss, orthodontist Catherine Schwab. Authorities said Leonard took payments from patients but failed to deposit the money into the doctor's account.</p><p>District Judge Johnny Walker dismissed the charges at the time, citing lack of evidence. The decision was based on the fact that prosecutors were using printed financial records to prove their claims that money was missing but were unable to produce the computer files from which the documents originated.</p><p>Staff Writer Katie Urbaszewski can be reached at 448-7617 or katie.urbaszewski@dailycomet.com.</p>